Facing Tough Questions 2

How could there be a good God who is all powerful given all the suffering in the world? “When I see homeless people shivering in the wake of a deadly storm, when the news media bring me almost obscenely close to the raw grief of bereft parents, I do not have to ask, as all people of faith must, why an all-powerful, all-good God allows such things to happen.” – Atheist Susan Jacoby

I would want to say… The logical problem: can God and suffering both exist? One of the key questions that showed that evil does not make God impossible was this question: “Is the highest good that we could ever have to live a comfortable, trouble free life right now?” The idea of allowing pain for the reason of bringing about a greater good is valid and one we understand and use ourselves (spanking, punishment, dieting, working out, etc.). There is no automatic inconsistency between God and the existence of evil and suffering.

I would want to say… “If God is infinitely wise, couldn’t he have a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil that you can’t think of right now, or can’t know of?” We may not understand why everything happens, but evil does not disprove God. “The confident assertion so common ‘on the street’ that suffering and evil simply disproves the existence of God, has been almost entirely abandoned in professional and academic circles…the argument against God from evil is no longer seen as being (logically) compelling.” – Tim Keller

I would want to say… The emotional side. Why?? Every other worldview relies on one of three explanations for suffering: 1) The world just is random; unjust, and painful, and there is no reason, no hope, and nothing else to say. (atheism) 2) Suffering isn’t actually a problem – it’s not real. The problem is that you are too focused on things in this world. Detach yourselves, and you won’t be bothered by suffering (Stoicism, Buddhism). 3) Suffering is your fault, so just try harder and stop complaining (Hinduism/karma).

I would want to say… Christianity: 1) Acknowledges that suffering is real and ugly and often unjust, because it is caused by sin entering the world and marring God’s plan. 2) But God is sovereign over it and can use even unjust evil to bring about the good of His people, so there is hope in it. 3) God stays with us in our suffering, walking through it with us. And He doesn’t say “suck it up, it’s going to turn out fine!” He went through more suffering than we ever will in order to bring about our good, His glory, and the hope He offers His suffering people. 4) There is great hope, because through faith in Christ He will save us from suffering and resurrect us to the joyful, sorrow-free life we long for.

Why would you believe the Bible is infallible Why would you believe the Bible is infallible? It’s 2000 years old and it’s full of errors! Imagine someone telling you that he doesn’t go to the doctor anymore, he just tries to heal himself with an old papyrus fragment from Greece on “Healing the mind and body”. We’d laugh at him. What about the verse in Leviticus about mixing cloth? Either you don’t have to keep God’s law (because you don’t keep that one), or you’re a hypocrite because you keep some and not others, and you yourself feel like it’s irrelevant.

What I’d want to say There are plenty of ways to check the Bible’s truth and accuracy. Archeology, historical record, do it’s prophecies come true, etc. Over and over the Bible demonstrates its truth. “The Bible has literally thousands of testable historical prophecies…the very dimension of the sheer fulfillment of prophecy of the OT Scriptures should be enough to convince anyone that we are dealing with a supernatural piece of literature.” Sproul

What I’d want to say There are many places where the Bible appears to contradict itself, but none I am aware of that don’t have a reasonable explanation. So the question is: if someone might be lying or wrong, or they might be telling the truth and right, how do you decide? Go based on what you know of it’s character. We have to know how to interpret Scripture.

Aren’t all gods basically getting at the same thing? Isn’t God in the Bible pretty similar to Allah, even if we view him a bit differently, and the Trinity pretty similar to Hinduism, even if we describe them a bit differently? And if there are differences, how can one be so good it’s leads to everlasting reward and the other be so bad it leads to everlasting punishment/hell?

What I’d want to say If you compare Christianity to the other religions, it isn’t just different; it is mutually exclusive. They both can’t be true. Christianity is unique in that most religions tell us how to live in order to get eternal life (contract). Christianity is not about how to live, it is good news about what God has done (covenant). Christianity isn’t somebody’s description of God, or impression of God, or idea of how to please God. Christianity is God speaking to us, and telling us about Himself. According to Romans 1, other religions aren’t efforts of people to find God, but efforts of people to make life work their own way instead of God’s way!